George Raft

[Western Guy]

Just wish that Universal would release to DVD more of the Paramount library, which they did back in the good old videocassette days. Granted, much of George's 30s output was pretty anemic, but there are the gems like THE GLASS KEY.
But it's obvious Alan Ladd's version overshadows Raft's.


Interestingly, back in George's early days of stardom he was given contradictory advice from Paramount. On one hand he was told to smile and be nice to everyone as that would enhance his popularity with fans . . . then he was told not to smile much as that reduced his toughness, which was his stock in trade.

[feaito]

Don't ask me how it's done, but I have an Apple Imac and a program that downloads stuff from youtube to the hard drive converting it into a Real Player archive...My computer-savvy relatives installed it for me Thus, in this way I was able to download George's "Souls at Sea" (1937) from YTB and watched it peacefully.

I am at home now and the program is called "Real Player Downloader", so when I play a clip on YTB, it appears an option on that icon in order to download it and convert it into a Real Player archive. Hope this helps.

[charliechaplinfan]

Fernando, are you able to use it on this clip? I'd been led to believe that it couldn't be downloaded but if your programme can manage it will you point me in the right direction. There's always a chance now we're all sharing my computer that Joe might have 'altered' my computer. I still have the downloader I originally used but it won't work.

[youtube][/youtube]

I have a higher opinion of what I see of George's Paramount days, granted The Trumpet Blows is pretty poor but The Glass Key and The Midnight Club are really good, as is Night After Night. If the Glass Key has a fault it's in the script and styling, not in the acting. I haven't seen the Alan Ladd version but perhaps it's like comparing the two versions of The Maltese Falcon? I prefer the smiling to the toughness but I will agree that he's a better tough guy. Heck I think my favourite film of his is Spawn of the North aside from the Warner films of course and Some Like it Hot.

If I can get these files on to my computer Stone I don't mind sending you a copy.

[Western Guy]

That would be great, Alision. I'd very much appreciate it. Still keep getting that darned freezing at certain points.

I definitely agree that SPAWN OF THE NORTH is Raft's best Paramount, followed by SOULS AT SEA.

[charliechaplinfan]

If I can get it off the site I will Stone, they're definite keepers.

Stone can you help me with this. I will explain I was trying to get a picture that I first saw in Hollywood Babylon, it was George and Bugsy together (I know worse book in the world but when I was 14 and loved anything Hollywood and had virtually nothing it was like manna from heaven) the picture I was trying to get has George wearing a really dapper hat and suit combination but it must have been really on trend at the time because it's not a style that hung around. Instead I got this, I won't even post the picture but this is what came up on my google search. I don't think it's him and it hasn't got Bugsy Siegel in it but it's risque. Theresa you just got to follow this link and see what quiet little British housewives find on their computers, it's not X rated, just surprising

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=george ... B450%3B338

Meanwhile I'll try to find the photo I was actually trying to find.

[CineMaven]

I checked out the link. Oh boy. Georgie! Not bad. Not bad at all!

[charliechaplinfan]

I knew you'd like it Theresa, it made me smile. If it is him I don't know when he posed for it.

[CineMaven]

I'm with you on maybe that's not him. Like a head posted on a body. Very mature. Now, speaking of Mature...

[charliechaplinfan]

Yes, it's a learning curve tonight

If it is George it's got to be a precode movie. Perhaps it's Night After Night he takes a bath in that one but he looks a little older than the early 30s.

[CineMaven]

And actually, not so much a curve. A pretty straight route, I'd say. Wot!

[charliechaplinfan]

[Western Guy]

Alison, the only picture I've ever come across of George and Bugsy Siegel together is the photo taken of the two at the bookmaking trial - a picture I include in my book and which was referred to by industry insiders as the "kiss of death", which it may well have been in reference to George's subsequent film career. Although celebs like Gable, Cooper and Pat O'Brien palled around with The Bug with no career backlash, George's friendship with Siegel was so highly publicized as to have possible detrimental effects.

Of course add to that George's established gangster screen image . . .

[charliechaplinfan]

I might be mistaken about who he was pictured with, I'll have to find the book, maybe he was posed with someone else but the segment was about Bugsy Siegel and his demise. The picture I did find on the internet (apart from the one above) was the one in your book. Do you really think that picture set him on the downward spiral? It's true that the pictures went down from then on. One wonders what a publicist was for or an agent or perhaps they only found out about this afterwards. The picture you refer to is a posed one, not a paparazzi shot of them near one another. Perhaps it was a way to get on the front page which misfired.

I watched Nocturne thankyou Knitty I enjoyed George's poor detective, I cringed a bit at his mother but she had one of the best scenes in the picture, it's a good film but it has something lacking that stops it from being top drawer noir, the story was a little confusing, none of the cops stood out but the baddies and girls were good. I think it might be one of those pictures that he partly walked through but I enjoyed it.

Did Mack Gray work on anyone else's films? He's always in George's later pictures, here as a detective buddy. Was he a professional actor or a buddy who made films with his friend?

[Western Guy]

I don't think that photo of George with his arm around Bugsy did much harm to Raft's career - not at the point, even though he was warned by studio heads not to testify at the bookmaking trial. Not only did he go ahead and testify on Siegel's behalf - and being threatened with contempt charges more than once during his testimony - he went further and had the picture taken, which was plastered in papers all across the country. Frances Dee said back in '37 that "everyone knew Raft was a gangster". But I really don't think that the public knew how deep that association went 'til that photo was published.

One wonders if Raft would have been so quick to defy studio orders back when his star was on high. Don't forget, he was sensitive about his screen image and concerned what the public thought about him when he turned down THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE and DEAD END. Being photographed with a "real" gangster like Bugsy at that point could have had interesting ramifications.

I really don't think in '46 it caused Raft's declining career much harm.

As for Mack Gray, I believe George just felt comfortable having him around and directors gave him these bits in George's pictures to keep Raft happy.

[charliechaplinfan]

So Mack wasn't really an actor then? I find it surprising because he seems quite natural in the roles he plays. Was he also his stand in or was that someone else? In some of the later movies (and not just George's movies) but the cuts are so obvious between star and stand in. Did Mack have a wife or any children or was he very much like his pal, a man about town who liked the fights, a bit of gambling and women?

That's what I thought about that picture. Coming in 1946 the writing was on the card a little, George was over 50 he'd had 15 years at the top, he'd managed to annoy Jack Warner and probably other studio heads too. I'm presuming that the public would be clued up as to who Bugsy Siegel was. Perhaps he didn't care by this time. Or perhaps he knew that at 50 he was going to go on to supporting roles or B pictures and a show of support for his pals (however misguided) might have kept jobs coming in in his later years. Hosting in Vegas that kind of thing.

I would love to see Broadway. Hollywood made two movies about George Raft's life, one with him one without both whilst he was alive, that's something. However tainted George was within Hollywood they certainly wanted to tell his story.